Presidents 1850 to 1900


Our presidents have come from a wide selection of backgrounds. Many have been lawyers, others were soldiers, a few were teachers, and some were businessmen. Check out the presidents by clicking on the years you want:

Presidents from 1850-1900
Presidents from 1900-1950
Presidents from 1950-2000
Presidents from 2000-today




Franklin Pierce: 14th (1853-1857)
1.      He was born on November 23, 1804 in New Hampshire in a log cabin.
2.      He went to several schools as a child and then Bowdoin College in Maine.
3.      He was good friends with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Nathaniel Hawthorne.
4.      He entered law school in 1826.
5.      He opened his own practice in Concord, NH in 1827.
6.      He was elected to the State House of Representatives in 1828.
7.      He was also elected to the US House of Representatives and served from 1833-1837.
8.      He married Jane Means Appleton in 1834.  They had three children but all died before age 11.
9.      He returned to his law practice from 1845-1847.
10.   He enlisted in the army during the Mexican-American War and soon became a brigadier general.
11.   He was given the unanimous nomination for president because of his war-hero status.
12.   He won 27 of the 31 electoral votes.  In 1853 he was the youngest president at age 48.
13.   The slavery issue was huge during his administration.
14.   The Kansas-Nebraska act was passed in 1854 which divided the country even more.
15.   The Gadsen Purchase allow the US to purchase the rest of Arizona and New Mexico.
16.   He did not win a second nomination and retired to the West Indies because his wife was ill.
17.   He died on October 9, 1869.

James Buchanan, Jr.: 15th (1857-1861)
1.      Born on April 23, 1791 in Pennsylvania, he was one of 11 children.
2.      He went to Dickinson College and graduated in 1809.
3.      He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1812.
4.      He joined the military during the War of 1812 and defended Baltimore.
5.      He served in the state House of Representatives from 1814-1816.
6.      He then was elected to the US House of Representatives and served for 10 years.
7.      In 1832 he became the US Minister to Russia.
8.      He was elected to the US Senate in 1834 and served for two more terms.
9.      In 1845 he became the Secretary of State.
10.   He helped negotiate the 49th parallel between the US and Canada.
11.   After three tries to be nominated as a candidate for president in 1844, 1848, and 1852, he finally got the nomination in 1856.
12.   He took office on March 4, 1857 as the 15th president.
13.   He wanted to keep the peace between the north and south but too much had happened to keep it quiet.
14.   The Dred Scott case came before the Supreme Court.
15.   John Brown began to push for abolishing slavery and did it through violent means – causing problems for Buchanan.
16.   He sent troops after John Brown at Harper’s Ferry and captured him.
17.   In 1857, the country went into a recession.
18.   The South threatened to secede over problems with state rights.
19.   South Carolina seceded on December 20, 1860.
20.   Six more states seceded and formed the Confederate States of America.
21.   He eliminated all Confederate sympathizers from his cabinet and wanted to raise militias but Congress said no.
22.   He did not run again for office.
23.   On June 1, 1868, he died.


Abraham Lincoln: 16th (1861-1865)
1.      Born on February 12, 1809, Lincoln was raised in poverty in a log cabin in Kentucky.
2.      He was mostly self-educated and he loved to read.
3.      When he was 23 he purchased a general store with a friend.
4.      He was in the Illinois militia and fought in the Black Hawk War.
5.      In 1832 he tried to win a seat in the Illinois General Assembly but lost.
6.      He served as postmaster and country surveyor.
7.      He was known as Honest Abe.
8.      He ran again in 1834 and was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives.
9.      He taught himself law and was admitted to the bar in 1836.
10.   He married Mary Todd on November 4, 1842.
11.   He was against slavery, so Mary, who came from a slave-holding family, had to do all the chores herself.
12.   Three of their four children died before age 18.
13.   He was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1847.
14.   He returned to Illinois after one term and practiced law.
15.   He was nominated for the US Senate and gave his famous “House Divided” speech.
16.   He engaged in many debates with Stephen Douglas – known as the Lincoln-Douglas debates.
17.   He lost the election, but gained national attention because he felt “all men are created equal” referred to everyone.
18.   In 1860, he won the election for the Republican party and became president in 1861.
19.   He declared the act of seceding was treasonous and unconstitutional and they had no right to leave the union.
20.   The Crittenden Compromise was passed making interstate slave trade illegal and abolishing it in Washington, DC.
21.   Fort Sumter needed supplies so Lincoln told Jefferson Davis he was sending an unarmed supply ship.  Fort Sumter was fired upon and the fort surrendered – starting the Civil War on April 12, 1861.
22.   The national banking system was re-instated and the first income tax was passed.
23.   In 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, freeing all the slaves.
24.   The Gettysburg Address was read on November 19, 1863 after the bloody battle at Gettysburg.
25.   The Homestead Act of 1862 allowed farmers to claim 160 acres in the west if they paid a small fee and agreed to live there for 5 years.
26.   Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862 transferred federal land to states to support agriculture and mechanical arts colleges.
27.   He was elected to a second term in 1864.
28.   On April 14, 1865 he was shot by John Wilkes Booth at the Ford Theater in Washington, DC.

Andrew Johnson: 17th (1865-1869)
1.      He was born on December 19, 1808 in Raleigh, North Carolina.
2.      He became an apprentice to a tailor and had no formal education.
3.      He married Eliza McCardle in 1827 and she taught him arithmetic.
4.      He ran for Mayor of Greenville in 1833 and won.
5.      He served in the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1835.
6.      In 1843 he was elected to the US House of Representatives and served 5 terms until 1853.
7.      In 1853 he became Governor of Tennessee.
8.      He then became a US senator and supported the Homestead Acts.
9.      When the other states seceded, he continued to stay in the Senate.
10.   Lincoln nominated him as Military Governor of Tennessee in 1862 after they were occupied by the Union.
11.   He pushed to get rid of all Confederates from the state and supported suffrage for blacks.
12.   He was nominated to be Lincoln’s running mate in 1864.
13.   He became president when Lincoln was killed in 1865.
14.   He pardoned many Confederate leaders and appointed governors to the defeated southern states.
15.   He vetoed the Freedman’s Bureau and the Civil Rights Act of 1866.  Congress disagreed and overrode the presidential veto.
16.   His powers were restricted – he could only pass orders through General Ulysses Grant (who got Senate approval).
17.   Many attempts were made to impeach him – a list of complaints were filed by the House Judiciary Committee.  They failed to get the 2/3 votes needed.
18.   In 1867, Seward’s Folly – or the purchase of Alaska was made.
19.   He left office in 1869.
20.   He was re-elected to the Senate in 1875 but only served a short time – he died of a stroke on July 31, 1875.

Ulysses S. Grant: 18th (1869-1877)
1.      Born on April 27, 1822, his real name was Hiram Ulysses Grant.
2.      He can trace his family back to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1630s.
3.      He went to the US Military Academy at West Point.
4.      He graduated in 1843 and became a lieutenant.
5.      He served at the Mexican-American War from 1846-1848.
6.      He married Julia Boggs Dent on August 22, 1848. They had 4 children.
7.      He spent many years as a civilian, even being a farmer.
8.      He rejoined the army when the Civil War broke out in 1861.
9.      He recruited and trained volunteers in Illinois and was promoted to colonel.
10.   He was successful and was promoted to major general by Lincoln.
11.   After Vicksburg and Chattanooga, he was promoted to Lieutenant General and ultimately the Commander of the entire Union Army.
12.   Lee surrendered to Grant on April 14, 1865. The Civil War was over.
13.   He was promoted to General of the Army of the United States in 1866.
14.   He helped keep the borders in the North and the South.
15.   Popular with Americans, he was nominated in 1868 and won by a landslide.
16.   He became the youngest president at age 46 in 1869.  He served two terms.
17.   He left office in 1877.
18.   He traveled around the world and returned home in 1879.
19.   He came home penniless and with throat cancer. He sold his memoirs to a magazine and they were published by Mark Twain.
20.   He died on July 23, 1885.


Rutherford B. Hayes: 19th (1877-1881)
1.      He was born on October 4, 1822 in Delaware, Ohio.
2.      He went to Kenyon College and graduated in 1842 as valedictorian.
3.      He went to Harvard Law school and was admitted to the bar in 1845.
4.      He moved to Cincinnati, Ohio and opened a law practice.
5.      He defended many slaves who had escaped.
6.      He married Lucy Webb on December 30, 1852 and they had 8 children.
7.      He was nominated as a judge but refused.
8.      He became Cincinnati City Solicitor in 1859.
9.      During the Civil War he joined the volunteers in Ohio and he was promoted to brigadier general in 1864.
10.   He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1865.
11.   He was elected governor in Ohio in 1868.
12.   He left office in 1872 to spend time with his family, but was re-elected as governor in 1875.
13.   He was nominated for president but the vote was so close, a commission was asked to make the decision.
14.   Hayes was elected president in 1877.
15.   The Great Strike of 1877 occurred where railroad workers fought for better working conditions.
16.   He did not run again and left office in 1881.
17.   He moved back to Ohio.
18.   He served on the Board of Trustees at Ohio State University.
19.   He died on January 7, 1893.

James A. Garfield: 20th (1881)
1.      He was born on November 18, 1831 in Ohio.
2.      He worked on a canal and as a carpenter before attending Geauga Academy.
3.      He became a teacher in 1849.
4.      He taught at Western Reserve Eclectic Institute from 1851-1854.
5.      He attended Williams College and graduated in 1856.
6.      He became the principal of Eclectic in 1857.
7.      He married Lucretia Rudolph in 1858 and they had 7 children.
8.      He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1860.
9.      He joined the Ohio Senate in 1859.
10.   He got a commission of colonel in the Union Army in 1861.
11.   He won at Middle Creek and was promoted to brigadier general.
12.   In 1863 he was assigned Chief of Staff for Rosencrans.
13.   He returned to the House of Representatives and served 9 terms.
14.   He was elected to the US Senate.
15.   In 1880 he was chosen to run for the Republicans with Chester Arthur as his running mate.
16.   He won the election and was a member of the House, a Senator elect, and president elect until his inauguration.
17.   He appointed several blacks to federal offices – Frederick Douglas became Recorder of Deeds in Washington.
18.   On July 2, 1881,  Garfield was shot by Charles J. Guiteau.
19.   He died of an infection from one of the bullets that could not be found on September 19, 1881.


Chester A. Arthur: 21st (1881-1885)
1.      He was born on October 5, 1829 (although Arthur claims it was in 1830).
2.      He attended Union College in 1845.
3.      He became principal of North Pownal Academy, but returned to Union College to get his master’s degree in 1851.
4.      He attended law school and was admitted to the bar in 1854.
5.      He opened a law practice and helped defend Elizabeth Jennings Graham.
6.      He married Ellen Lewis Herndon on October 25, 1859.
7.      During the Civil War, he served as Engineer-in-Chief, Inspector General, and Quartermaster General of the state militia.
8.      In 1871, Grant appointed him Collector of the Port of New York.
9.      After 1878, he returned to his law practice.
10.   In 1880, he became Vice President for James Garfield.
11.   In 1881, he became president when Garfield was killed.
12.   In 1883 he signed the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act.
13.   He helped to modernize the navy and established the Office of Naval Intelligence.
14.   He left office on March 4 1885.
15.   On November 18, 1886 he died.

Stephen Grover Cleveland: 22nd (1885-1889)  
24th (1893-1897)
1.      He was born on March 18, 1837, but he chose not to use the name Stephen.
2.      He dropped after school when his father died in 1853, but worked as an assistant teacher to support his family.
3.      He worked at his uncle’s law firm in 1855 and studied law, joining the bar in 1859.
4.      He started his own firm in 1868.
5.      He ran for Sheriff of Erie County and won in 1870.
6.      He became the Mayor of Buffalo, NY in 1881.
7.      He became the governor of New York in 1882.
8.      He was nominated for the presidency in 1884 and won, taking office in 1885.
9.      He married Francis Folsom on June 2, 1886 while in the White House.
10.   He lost the next election to Harrison.
11.   Four years later, he won the election again in 1892.
12.   He supported the Dawes Act of 1887 which  gave allotments of land to individual Indians rather than whole tribes.
13.   He called on the military to break the Pullman strike in 1894.
14.   The economy crumbled while he was in office.
15.   He retired on March 4, 1897 and returned to his home in Princeton, New Jersery.
16.   He died in 1908.

Benjamin Harrison: 23rd (1889-1893) – served in between Cleveland’s two terms
1.      He was born on August 20, 1833 in North Bend Ohio and was one of 8 children.
2.      He was the grandson of William Henry Harrison, our ninth president.
3.      He attended Farmer’s College, but transferred to Miami University in Ohio. He graduated in 1852.
4.      He married Caroline Lavina Scott on October 20, 1853 and they had two children.
5.      He joined the bar in 1854 and practiced law.
6.      He joined the military during the Civil War and began to recruit others.
7.      He fought in many battles and became a brigadier general in 1865.
8.      He worked for the Indiana Supreme Court.
9.      He mediated for the railroad workers in the Great Railroad Strike in 1877.
10.   In 1880 he served as a delegate for the Republican National Convention.
11.   He became a senator from 1881-1887.
12.   In 1888, he became the Republican nomination for President and he won the electoral votes.
13.   He supported the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890.
14.   Six new states joined the Union during his tenure – North and South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, and Wyoming.
15.   He lost his bid for second term to Grover Cleveland.
16.   He returned to his law practice in Indianapolis.
17.   He wrote and taught law at Stanford University.
18.   He published two books – This Country is Ours (1897) and Views of an Ex-President (1901).
19.   He died on March 13, 1901.


William McKinley, Jr.: 25th (1897-1901)
1.      He was born on January 29, 1843 in Niles, Ohio.
2.      He attended Mount Union College and Allegheny College but did not graduate.
3.      He enlisted in the Union Army in 1861 as a private.  His commanding officer was Rutherford B. Hayes.
4.      When he left the military he was a captain.
5.      He attended Albany Law School and was admitted to the bar in 1867.
6.      He practiced law and was a prosecuting attorney from 1869-1871.
7.      He married Ida Saxton in 1871.
8.      He was elected to the US House of Representatives and served from 1877-1882.
9.      He was elected again in 1885.
10.   In 1891, he was elected governor of Ohio.
11.   He ran against Grover Cleveland who was blamed for the economic depression and won.
12.   He took office in 1897 with Theodore Roosevelt as his vice president.
13.   He signed the Gold Standard Act of 1900 to place the US on the gold standard.
14.   He approved the Dingley Tariff which created more jobs for American workers.
15.   He verbally condemned the lynching of African Americans in the South, but did little to stop it.
16.   He was re-elected in 1900.
17.   He sent ships to blockade Spanish ships in Cuba, placing the US at war with Spain.
18.   The war lasted only 3 months and a cease fire was declared in 1898.
19.   The United States gained control of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines.
20.   He annexed Hawaii in 1898 making all residents US citizens.
21.   He was shot while attending the Pan-American Exposition in New York.
22.   One bullet could not be found and he died on September 14, 1901.

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